


New Horizons to Pursue

by zorogem19



Series: Open Your Eyes [2]
Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Baseball, Alternate Universe - Not Hockey Player(s), Baseball!Player Sid, Established Relationship, First Meetings, Fluff, Holidays, M/M, Pens!Captain Geno, Pittsburgh Pirates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-20 14:08:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13148286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zorogem19/pseuds/zorogem19
Summary: Geno is nervous about how to introduce his boyfriend, Sidney Crosby, the pitcher of the Pittsburgh Pirates to the team. Then he gets a brilliant idea: the annual Pens holiday skate





	New Horizons to Pursue

**Author's Note:**

> I'm one year and and a day too late but I have been thinking about Sid meeting the team officially as Geno's significant other a lot so here it is *jazz hands*. This wouldn't have been possible if it wasn't for two wonderful kind souls, one of whom is [flmun](http://archiveofourown.org/users/flmun/pseuds/flmun/) who volunteered to be my betas. Happy Christmas! Hope you had a great one surrounded by all your loved ones and enjoy!

The Pittsburgh Pirates are knocked out of the postseason in a heartbreaking fashion— they fall to the Dodgers in game-7, extra innings, blowing a 3-1 series lead. After answering question after question to the reporters, Sid decides to take a trip to the Rockies for some snow and skiing to blow off some steam and disappointment. Zhenya knows that it is beneficial for both of them to get some space. He knows the heartache and disappointment of coming so close to achieving your dream. That’s why he isn’t surprised when he wakes up the next morning, he finds that the right side of the bed is empty. He leans over to find a note on the bedside table. 

_“Going to western Canada to ski then heading to Cole Harbour. I’ll be back soon. My flight was too early, and you were sleeping really peacefully so I didn’t wanna wake you up. I’ll keep in touch with you, I promise.”_

_Love,_

_Sid_

Zhenya reads the note and smiles, shaking his head fondly. Only Sid would go somewhere cold to recuperate. He traces his fingers over the love and gets up to start his day. 

*******

True to form, Sid keeps his promise. He texts and calls Zhenya constantly for two months, giving him pointers to improve his game.

 _Your shot was too heavy last night,_  he reads one of the text after practice. Y _ou need to drive harder to the net_.

He rolls his eyes in fond exasperation. O _kay thanks coach_.

_I’m helping you to improve your game. You should be thankful Malkin._

He sticks his tongue out in concentration as he types out the text, _is okay. I understand. You big nerd. Need to tell someone everything about hockey._

 _I am not a nerd. I just had some opinions and thought you’d like them._ Zhenya can picture the indignation in Sid’s face crystal clear as he types the text, brow furrowed and lips pouting adorably. He smiles to himself at the picture. 

 _Miss you_ , he types. His house feels lonely without Sid’s presence. He finds himself looking for Sid’s radiant smile with hazel eyes illuminating the kitchen after coming back from grueling road trips and ends up being crestfallen when he realizes Sid’s not there. The hardest times are the nights. He has gotten very accustomed to wrapping his legs around Sid’s monstrous thighs. He compensates it with a big pillow but it’s not the same.

_Miss you too. I’m coming back soon._

Before he can reply back with his excitement of Sid returning to Pittsburgh, a pestering presence decides to snatch his phone away. However, Zhenya’s got reflexes stemming from years of experiences with Denis and it pays off. He locks his phone before Flower could see the messages.

“Who were you texting?” Flower demands.

“Nobody,” He evades.

Flower narrows his eyes, eyes glinting dangerously. “Don’t lie.” 

“Not lying. Just playing games.” He winces inwardly at his terrible lie.

“Uh huh.” Flower says, totally not convinced. “I saw that smile.” Then his face changes to a gleeful expression, making Zhenya immediately wary. “Were you texting a girl? A guy?” He says the last part without skipping a beat.

By this time, everyone on the team is well aware of his taste in both men and women having witnessed him trying to pick up both in unsuccessful attempts. 

“Nobody,” he reiterates, “just a friend,” he finishes, shifting his feet from left to right.

“Fine,” Flower harrumphs, “be like that.” He stomps away, affronted.

Zhenya flits his eyes to Serozhya who is wincing at him in sympathy. He and Sid haven’t broken the news to any of their teammates, unsure of the way they will handle two high profile athletes of Pittsburgh dating each other. The only people who are aware of their relationship Serozhya and his family, since Sid is a common presence in their house until Zhenya bought his own recently. He is thinking of ways to ease into revealing his relationship without any complications. 

Serozhya shoulders his bag and leans in to whisper, “It’ll be okay. Take your time.”

He exits the building with a firm pat on Zhenya’s shoulder. Zhenya smiles wanly in return. 

*******

In no time, they’re discussing Sid’s travel arrangements and Zhenya is picking him up at the airport.

He is idling at the terminal gate waiting to see a familiar face until he spots a tired looking Sid, a bag on his shoulder, Penguins cap pulled low to hide his face. He glances at Sid, waiting for him to make eye contact. At last, Sid looks up and sees Geno. His face clears away the exhaustion and lights up in mirth. They both slowly walk towards each other to not draw any attention despite the urge to run and kiss each other soundly. In spite of that, they both clutch each other tightly when they finally rendezvous in the middle. 

“It’s so good to see you,” Sid mumbles in Zhenya’s collarbone, kissing his neck and burying his face in Geno’s scent. 

He presses a soft kiss on Sid's head and replies, "Missed you too. Missed you so much."

They stare at each other, desire growing at each passing minute. "Let's go home," Geno says in a deep voice, eyes dark with want.

*******

Afterwards, they are back in Geno’s house tangled together from head to toe, relishing the close contact after months of separation. Sid is resting his head on Geno’s chest, lulled by the steady rhythm of his heartbeat. Geno is tracing the dip of his spine lightly. He can tell something’s on Geno’s mind by the way he’s still wide awake and shifting restlessly occasionally. Usually, Geno’s dead to the world after sex, so clearly something’s up.

“You’re thinking too loud,” Sid raises his head. “Something wrong?”

“Was thinking…” Geno trails off, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth, “want to come to Christmas skate?”

Sid furrows his eyebrows. “Isn’t the holiday skate for families only?” he asks, perplexed.

Geno’s heart is about to burst from all the affection. _What an idiot,_ he wonders fondly.

He sits up and takes Sid’s face in his hands, “Sid, you part of family, obviously!”

He shakes his head and rolls his eyes, “That’s why I’m ask you.”

But then he wonders whether he is assuming too much, and Sid doesn’t want to go and he’s pressuring him so rambles, “You not go if you not want. Not pressure you. Is okay—”

Sid sees the nervousness rolling off Geno in waves, so he can’t help but kiss him to cut him off.

“I’d love to go,” he says softly, big hazel eyes sparkling.

Zhenya does the wise thing: he brings Sid’s head close to him to capture his luscious lips.

“Good,” he pants, after breaking apart for air. “Want people to know I’m with you,” he says, warm brown eyes steady. “Want to hold hand in front of team. Tell I’m date famous Sidney Crosby,” he finishes with tongue poking out of his teeth.

Sid nods. “Okay. Yeah. We can do that,” he smiles widely, “We can definitely do that.”

Zhenya recaptures those tantalisingly soft lips. For a while, there is no sounds other in the house than pants and moans.

*******

The next day, Serozhya skates up to him while they’re lining up for one-timers to ask, “Sid coming to the holiday skate?”

He bites his lip to prevent his face from splitting into a wide grin, “Maybe,” he says airily.

Sergei sifts the truth straight out of the vague answer and rolls his eyes, “It’ll be good to see him. Been a while. Kids’ll love to see him.”

Zhenya nods. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

He skates away when he hears coach shout his name.

*******

Back in the change room, Zhenya is changing out of his gear and is greeted with the usual text from Sid and smiles. He ignores Flower chirping him about smiling lately.

“Someone wipe that fucking smile off Geno’s face,” he cackles.

Unfortunately, Zhenya was too engrossed in replying to Sid to duck a wet sock, which hits him squarely in the face.

He scowls, wiping his face in disgust, “Fuck off Flower.”

Billy Guerin, always the one with the wisdom, chides from the other side of the locker room, “Let him be happy Flower. It’s great to see you smile Geno,” he adds sincerely.

Zhenya smiles to Billy in thanks. He pockets his phone and yells his goodbyes to the team. Before entering his car, he rests his head against the door and takes a deep breath.

 _Gonna be fine,_ he reassures himself. _You’re just getting your team to meet your boyfriend. No big deal._

 _No big deal!_ The small annoying voice exclaims. _It’s Sidney Crosby, you dumbass. He’s the star pitcher for the Pirates. It is a big deal!_

“Shut up,” he berates himself aloud. “It’s Sidney Crosby but still Sid.”

With that resolution, he opens the door and drives home, to his patiently awaiting Sidney.

*******

When the day of the skate finally arrives, Sid comes to his house carrying a pair of old hockey skates.

“Found them after upturning my house,” he scratches his neck, looking self-conscious.

Zhenya lays a gentle kiss on his lips. Then his brows crease in worry, “If you not want, we not go skating.”

Sid takes his hand and lightly traces the knuckles. “No, Geno. I’m fine.”

Geno, however, continues to look worried, face pinched.

“No really,” he assures, “I’m fine. I’m really excited to skate with you.”

Zhenya’s eyes go molten and he brings their joined hands to press a kiss on Sid’s hand, getting a hitched breath in response.

“Me too,” he replies with a tender smile.

*******

Zhenya parks on his usual spot and glances at Sid who is already looking back with a matching expression of nerves and excitement. Throughout the whole ride, they were holding on to each other’s hand for dear life despite Sid having some reservations on Geno’s driving. They both take a deep breath in sync and squeeze each other’s hand tightly for one last time.

Sid nods with determination, “Let’s do this.”

*******

Everyone at the rink sees Zhenya and begin clapping in enthusiasm. For once, he’s on time which actually counts early by his standard. Then, their eyes widen in shock when they notice Sid coming up behind him and then their joined hands.

Zhenya and Sid skate a lap together, ignoring the thunderstruck expressions on everyone’s faces except for Serozhya and his children.

Once the surprise subsides, Flower skates over to them with his mask tucked under one of his arms. “So, you’re the one that’s been making Geno happy.” He states with an air of someone who has recently solved a mystery case.

Sid blushes and looks up at Geno. “You’ve been smiling because of me?”

He’s genuinely asking the question since he cannot fathom that someone would actually be happy when they’re with him.

Flower with an evil grin answers, “He’s been smiling. Looking at the phone with love. So much love,” he simpers, fluttering his eyelashes excessively.

At the comment, Zhenya punches his shoulder. “Shut up, Flower.”

Sid gives his adorable honk giggle, eyes crinkling at the corner. Flower looks charmed. Zhenya can relate. Flower turns, dragging Sid with him.

“Where you take him?” Zhenya demands.

“Sid needs to bond with some of his countrymen. He’s been hanging out with Russians too much.”

Sid looks over his shoulder at Zhenya in alarm. He looms over Flower in a threatening manner, “You do anything to Sid, I break arm.”

Flower rolls his eyes at the dramatics, “Relax, you don’t need to go all Russian bear on me. I’m not gonna do anything to him.”

With that, he whisks Sid away to skate some laps.

*******

“Pretty brave of you to come,” he remarks casually.

Sid flushes, “uh…yeah…Geno invited me, and I thought why not?” He shrugs.

Flower stops and looks at Sid with an uncharacteristically serious expression. “Geno is a big guy more ways than one. He loves too easily. Please don’t break his heart. We won’t be able to cope with heartbroken Geno.”

“I won’t,” Sid says with firm resolution, “I promise.”

“Good,” Flower nods and shakes off the seriousness, effectively breaking the tension.

Tanger and Duper join them and start making comments in French when they realize that Sid is laughing at the saucy retort from Flower when he was mocking Tanger’s hair. They insist that he calls them Tanger, Duper and Flower respectively when he awkwardly calls them by their last names.

“Comment ça se fait que tu comprennes Français?” Tanger asks.

“Oh…um…I played in Quebec for three years before coming to US for high school, so I learned French,” he shrugs, “but it’s really rusty.”

Tanger loops an arm over his shoulder. “Ne t’inquiète. We’ll get you up to speed.”

“So, how long you’ve been dating our Geno?” Duper asks.

“Um…not long. Five months,” he replies.

“When did you get together?” Flower asks, raising his eyebrow, “I don’t even think G has ever been to a baseball game.”

“He went to one of our games and complimented me on my performance.” Sid flushes, remembering their interaction and their date afterwards.

Flower’s eyes are gleaming with mischief. “Did he now?”

Sid is very scared on Geno’s behalf. “We just went to dinner after the game and yeah…that was it,” he finishes lamely.

“Wow who knew Geno’s so romantic,” Duper muses.

“I got so much pranking material now,” Flower says with an evil grin. “Thanks Sid.”

Sid nervously says, “No problem.”

*******

Zhenya sees the interaction between the French Canadians and Sid between the moments of dragging Victoria and Natalie on the ice. He notices Sid throwing his head back and laughing, face open and full of joy.

“He’s getting along well,” Serozhya comments.

“Yeah, he is,” Zhenya smiles widely.

“Glad you brought him.”

“Me too.”

Sid, flushed skates over to him and challenges him for some one-on-one play. The one-on-one soon becomes a scrimmage which ends after the kids demand to play with them. None of the wives even bat an eye when he takes their kids out for a skate. By the end, it’s like Sid has known them for years instead of meeting them for the first time.

Overall, he would say today’s been a wonderful day. Geno’s teammates were a delight, especially Flower. He also got to carry and skate with kids.

At last, the travelling mistletoe that has been making rounds finally catches them. They look up at the object hanging above them. They share a smile and a sweet kiss egged by Geno’s teammates’ catcalls and cheers. Zhenya rests his forehead against Sid’s, their breath mingling.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Note for the French phrases  
> Comment ça se fait que tu comprennes Français?- How come you understand French?  
> Ne t’inquiète- Don't worry  
> Thank you so much for reading. Comments are always appreciated :) I [tumble](http://dangerouslyaddictivethings.tumblr.com/)  
> 


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